WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The depiction of violence on shows and movies has been rising lately, leaving a profound impact on the mental and emotional health of children, particularly teenage boys.
Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, a recent study explained how the exposure to violence at early ages of 3 to 4 can shape behavior during adolescence.
The study led by Linda Pagani at the Universite de Montreal's School of Psychoeducation, followed 963 girls and 982 boys born between 1997 and 1998, who were part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.
'Although past evidence showing causal links between modelling and getting rewarded for violence had an immediate impact on aggressive behavior in 4-year-old children, few studies have investigated long-term risks with antisocial behavior. We studied such risks in mid-adolescence,' explained Pagani.
'It was ideal to study this question with typically developing middle-class children because, as a population, they have the lowest chances of engaging in aggression and behavior harmful to others.'
The study defined violence on screen as any content 'characterized by physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression', depicting 'situations that intentionally attempt or cause harm to others.' Initially, parents reported the frequency of their child's exposure to violence on screens during their younger age, and later, it was self-reported by the children.
The researchers found that children were drawn to fast-paced, stimulating violent content, often featuring appealing characters like superheroes who commit and are rewarded for aggressive acts. This type of content increases the likelihood of exposure.
Even though, the study was conducted on both girls and boys, the gender disparities were clearly visible in the findings with boys exhibiting more aggressive and antisocial behaviors like hitting others or participating in gang fights by the age of fifteen.
'Our study provides compelling evidence that early childhood exposure to media violence can have serious, long-lasting consequences, particularly for boys,' Pagani concluded.
'This underscores the urgent need for public health initiatives that target campaigns to inform parents and communities about the long-term risks and empower them to make informed choices about young children's screen content exposure.'
The research team underscored the crucial role of parents and communities in limiting early exposure to violent media among young children.
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